Elongated flexible members, such as strings, laces or cords, are frequently used to close or connect associated bodies. For example, pieces of material having small holes can be laced together to form a garment. The lace is placed alternately through a hole in each piece of material (e.g. in a criss-cross pattern). When the ends of the lace are pulled, portions of the lace contacting the sides of the holes pull on them, forcing the pieces of material together. The lace may be pulled to tighten the connection between the pieces of material to any desired degree. The lace can be pulled relatively tight, bringing the material pieces relatively close together, or can be left relatively loose, leaving the material pieces relatively far apart.
Similarly, many varieties of footwear include an upper portion split into a left side and a right side by a gap. The wearer inserts a foot into the footwear between the sides of the upper, so that the top of the foot is adjacent the gap. Each side of the footwear upper includes a series of holes or eyelets through which a lace can be threaded. When the lace is properly inserted through the holes (e.g. in a criss-cross pattern), the ends of the lace can be pulled to draw together the right and left sides of the footwear upper, tightening the footwear onto the wearer's foot. An appropriate knot for the lace is then generally tied into the lace so that the right and left sides of the footwear upper stay in generally the same relative positional relationship, and therefore the same tightness is generally maintained with respect to the wearer's foot.
Further, such elongated flexible members are also used in connection with a variety of devices. For example, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,360 to Moser, an elongated flexible member can be used to hold a tarpaulin or other cover on a truck bed. The cord is laced through one or more holes in the cover and may form one or more bights or loops. The bights or cord lengths can then be connected to the truck bed so as to hold the cover thereon.
Use of cords or laces to tighten or fasten two bodies together via holes in the bodies, while very common, has several disadvantages. Placing an elongated flexible member through a hole such as a footwear eyelet can be difficult for people who have difficulty working with small objects, such as the elderly, arthritis-inflicted persons, very young children, or the blind. Threading a lace through multiple holes is time-consuming and can be strenuous even for those without such difficulties. Further, once a shoe (for example) is laced, the lace must be tightened and knotted to preserve the tightened state. Frequently, after the lace is pulled tight, tension on the lace is released as the lace is knofted. When the tension is released, the lace can slip in one or more pairs of eyelets that were tightened earlier, causing the footwear to loosen around the foot to an undesirable degree.
Several devices have been developed to render laces or cords easier to use in footwear. Such devices are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,125,918; 4,970,763; 4,999,889; 5,109,581; 5,158,428 and U.S. Pat. No. 373,464. Generally, the devices disclosed therein suffer from one or more disadvantages, including inability to hold a lace in tension, an undesirably tall or large profile, and/or a multitude of parts and expense of manufacture.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a lacing aid that is inexpensive to manufacture and attach to a garment, footwear, or other body to be held or fastened by a lace or cord, which is aesthetically pleasing, and which allows for both speed lacing and holding a lace or cord in tension.